Keppel FELS on track for early delivery of Seafox 5

AUGUST 20, 2012 — Singapore's Keppel FELS shipyard is on track to deliver an advanced multi-purpose offshore wind turbine installation ship to the Seafox Group, ahead of time and with an impressive safety record.

Built to Keppel's proprietary Multi-Purpose Self-Elevating Platform (MPSEP) design, Seafox 5 is a new-generation wind turbine installation vessel that can withstand harsh offshore environmental conditions all year round in the deeper waters of the North Sea.

It is the first of its kind to be built by a Singapore shipbuilder and was named August 18 at a ceremony where Acting Minister for Manpower and Senior Minister of State for National Development, Mr. Tan Chuan-Jin, as the Guest of Honor.

Mr. Tan called Seafox 5 "a significant milestone in the capabilities and innovation by a Singaporean shipyard" and noted that "in line with Singapore's push for increasing productivity, Keppel has been able to deliver this vessel more than a month ahead of schedule and with an excellent safety record. This reflects a goal that every company should aim towards: a productive workplace where the job is not only completed well and fast, but also enables every worker to return home to his family safely at the end of the day."

Measuring 50 m wide and 151 m end-to-end, Seafox 5 will be among a handful of purpose-built jackups with a 1200-t heavy lift capacity and capable of installing both turbines and large foundations exceeding 800 t in weight.

Together with its environmental capabilities, stability coverage, deck space of 3,600 sq.m and a variable load of 7,000 t, it is able to outperform most other jackups and be competitive with the floating heavy lift vessels.

Designed by Keppel's research and development arm, Offshore Technology Development (OTD), Seafox 5 is a self-propelled installation jackup vessel utilizing Keppel FELS' proven jacking technology. Equipped with Dynamic Positioning 2 (DP-2) capabilities, the vessel is elevated above sea level by four legs that provide 30 m of clearance between the legs and crane for easy cargo access.

Seafox 5 has a large carrying capacity of up to twelve 3.6 MW turbines, three jackets or four tripods at a time, which enhances the efficiency of constructing offshore wind farms.

In addition to being well-suited for servicing offshore wind farms, it also meets the stringent operating regulations of the offshore oil and gas industry and can support a wide range of related activities such as accommodation, hook-up, commissioning, well intervention, maintenance, construction and decommissioning.

Seafox 5 has been chartered to the joint-venture company of Aarsleff Bilfinger Berger (ABJV) Dan Tysk to install offshore wind foundations in the 288 megawatt (MW) Dan Tysk wind farm in the German Sector of the North Sea.

Mr. Keesjan Cordia, CEO of Seafox said, "The fact that Seafox 5 has already received a charter for immediate work speaks of the strength of the MPSEP design, the reputation of Keppel-made products and Seafox's track record in multi-support service jackups across the world.

"We see that demand for such vessels will continue to rise with the commercialisation of 5 MW wind turbines over the next few years. Seafox 5 is a new generation vessel which will be able to out-perform existing marine assets both on cost and efficiency in wind installation. In addition, this state-of-the-art vessel has been specifically designed to meet all the requirements of both the offshore wind and the oil and gas industries in harsh environments."

Mr. Wong Kok Seng, Managing Director, Keppel FELS said, "This achievement demonstrates our ability to leverage our R&D and execution capabilities to participate and add value effectively in a segment of the market which is relatively new to Keppel. Together with our other investments, we believe we are well-poised to take on a larger slice of the global offshore wind market."